Giants' Andres Torres, (56) tosses his broken bat after breaking it over his knee after striking out in the fourth inning with the bases loading, at Surprise Stadium on Monday Mar. 11, 2013, in Surprise, Az., as the San Francisco Giants went on to beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 in Spring Training action. less

Giants' Andres Torres, (56) tosses his broken bat after breaking it over his knee after striking out in the fourth inning with the bases loading, at Surprise Stadium on Monday Mar. 11, 2013, in Surprise, Az., ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

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Giants' Kensuke Tanaka, (88) watches the pitcher while waiting on deck in the fifth inning, at Surprise Stadium on Monday Mar. 11, 2013, in Surprise, Az., as the San Francisco Giants went on to beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 in Spring Training action. less

Giants' Kensuke Tanaka, (88) watches the pitcher while waiting on deck in the fifth inning, at Surprise Stadium on Monday Mar. 11, 2013, in Surprise, Az., as the San Francisco Giants went on to beat the Texas ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Image 4 of 5

Giants' Andres Torres, (56) breaks his broken bat over his knee after striking out in the fourth inning with the bases loading, at Surprise Stadium on Monday Mar. 11, 2013, in Surprise, Az., as the San Francisco Giants went on to beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 in Spring Training action. less

Giants' Andres Torres, (56) breaks his broken bat over his knee after striking out in the fourth inning with the bases loading, at Surprise Stadium on Monday Mar. 11, 2013, in Surprise, Az., as the San ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Image 5 of 5

Giants' Kensuke Tanaka, (88) walks up to the on deck circle in the fifth inning, at Surprise Stadium on Monday Mar. 11, 2013, in Surprise, Az., as the San Francisco Giants went on to beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 in Spring Training action. less

Giants' Kensuke Tanaka, (88) walks up to the on deck circle in the fifth inning, at Surprise Stadium on Monday Mar. 11, 2013, in Surprise, Az., as the San Francisco Giants went on to beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 ... more

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Giants' Torres shows off his man strength

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Surprise, Ariz. -- Outfielder Andres Torreshasn't lost any power from his last go-round with the Giants. He's still as strong as ever, as he displayed in his first exhibition in three weeks.

Not by swinging the bat. By breaking it in two.

Torres, who's returning from an oblique strain, was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. After his second K, he quickly and angrily broke the bat over his knee, an unintended tribute to Bo Jackson. His teammates were impressed.

"Sometimes you've got to let it go," said Torres, who broke the bat after swinging through a high fastball by Texas' Coty Woods. "Everybody gets mad, right?"

The best news for Torres is that he had no issues with his oblique and that he's in the outfield mix. The Giants' starting center fielder in 2010, he's vying for a backup job and has the benefit of switch-hitting and being a good defender and baserunner.

"That was impressive, wasn't it?" Buster Poseysaid of the bat snap. "He's a strong guy, to say the least."

Before the at-bat, Darvish tipped his cap to acknowledge Tanaka, who's hitting .229 and seeking a utility job.

It could be a big day for Tanaka on Thursday. The Giants play Team Japan, which earned a berth to San Francisco for the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic. Pitcher Yusmeiro Petitwill start for the Giants.

NL West arms race: Bumgarner, who gave up one hit over four scoreless innings, is scheduled to pitch the Giants' second game of the season. The Dodgers' scheduled starter is Zack Greinke, who has been diagnosed with elbow inflammation.

Asked to rank the Dodgers' and Giants' rotations, Bumgarner said, "I think our staff is as good as anybody's out there at times, and at times we're not. Everyone will go through rough patches throughout a season, but I'll take our guys any time."

Bumgarner lowered his spring ERA to 1.86, but he hasn't been able to hit (a cherished hobby) because the designated hitter rule has been used in each of his games. To keep his swing fresh, he took batting practice Sunday.

Giants 2, Rangers 1

Notable: Hunter Pencedrove in both runs with a third-inning double and a fifth-inning triple. He and Nick Noonanhad back-to-back triples. ... Noonan made a nifty ninth-inning defensive play, ranging quickly to his left for a grounder by Julio Borbon. ... Yu Darvish threw a pitch high and inside to Buster Posey, who ducked for cover and glanced back toward the mound. "I always kind of look to see what the reaction is," said Posey, who took the next pitch (a very, very slow breaking ball) before sharply lining out to right. ... Posey was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and saw several sliders from Darvish and Joe Nathan, a good test, according to Posey. ... Heath Hembreestruck out the side in the eighth after getting rocked for four runs in his previous outing. ... The Rangers scored their only run off Chad Gaudin, who tossed two innings.

Quotable: "I need to learn how to break a bat over my knee."

- Outfielder Gary Brown's tweet in the wake of Andres Torres turning his bat into kindling by smashing it over his knee

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